The Mirror Cracks
by WhiteKnightPaul
Summary: When a stranger appears in the TARDIS, with no explanation, the Doctor and Clara begin to ask questions. But the answers they find unearth a past the Doctor thought was long forgotten. Will the Doctor's façade, his mirror, finally crack?


**The Mirror Cracks**

_Starring:_

_Tom Hiddleston as the Doctor_

_Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara Oswald_

_Rashida Jones as the 'female Doctor'_

**Prologue**

The door of the TARDIS closed behind the Doctor and Clara as they made their way to the control panel. The Doctor swivelled around on his heel, pulling out his sonic screwdriver to lock the door before clumsily running towards Clara and one of the panels. Clara leaned against the control panel. She looked up at the time rotor, at its ominous glow which filled the control room. She finally felt safe. She gathered her thoughts and her breath before finally addressing the Doctor.

"You could have got us killed back there. Did you realise that?" she said, displaying a subtle hint of excitement in her voice.

The Doctor smiled, his grin displaying an affection towards what had happened and to Clara's own grin which she was trying her best to hide from him.

"Oh yes, very much so!" The Doctor exclaimed to his companion as he danced around the TARDIS controls to start her moving again. "There's always something about running through the corridors of a spaceship, being chased by a Quorf mercenary that really gets the blood flowing!"

As the Doctor pranced around the controls, pulling levers and turning on switches, Clara sat back in one of the chairs.

"You never get bored of being chased, do you?"

The Doctor turned to face Clara.

"It seems to be part of the job description." A cheeky wink and grin towards Clara made her blush slightly. She covered her face to hide her embarrassment. The Doctor said that he would be different with each regeneration, despite being the same person. The problem was that Clara felt differently about this Doctor than the previous. He certainly dressed more eccentrically, his blue suit, though pristine in its appearance, certainly made him stand out in any crowd while his trainers were almost worn in comparison. He remarked on his sudden facial hair, something he had not seen before. "Other time lords always seemed to pull it off better," he remarked.

Clara had enjoyed her travels with his previous incarnation but never had she felt something like this before. It wasn't right though. She couldn't just tell him he was better now than he was before, could she? She realised she was overthinking and skipped over to the Doctor who had managed to start up the TARDIS to leave.

The door began banging as the mercenary pounded at the door to open.

"Nobody's home!" The Doctor shouted as he pulled one final lever to send both him and Clara to opposite sides of the TARDIS to hold on.

Regaining his composure, the Doctor nearly fell back on to the control panel, trying to stabilise the TARDIS as it travelled. His movements were more frantic and he moved from one panel to the next to finally allow the TARDIS to ease up. As he moved to another panel, he began muttering to himself. Although the same person within his new body, adjusting to new fingers and eyes was proving difficult at times and thus he had to reassure himself of what he was doing.

"So I want to turn this… What's that?.. Yes, perfect…And… Oh, excuse me…"

The Doctor was acknowledging a woman he had bumped into who was doing precisely the same thing as him, muttering and fiddling with the dials of the control panel. The eventual realisation came when they both went for the same lever.

Both the Doctor and this stranger looked at one another's hand before looking at their faces. The woman was youthful but almost weary, her face did not have any make-up on but she wore her hair half up, vintage style with a sonic screwdriver in one of the knots for safe keeping. She was wearing a plain blue dress, the sleeves rolled up and a bracelet on her arm. She smiled sweetly at the Doctor and moved her hand from atop the Doctor's outwards as a gesture to shake hands.

"I'm sorry. Please to meet you, sir!"

The Doctor looked back at Clara who was shocked and still clinging on to the railings of the control room. The Doctor met the stranger's eyes and he smiled back, shaking hands with the woman.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm the Doctor. And you are?"

The stranger was taken aback by the name but regained her composure to answer.

"I don't wish to be rude but I believe that name has already been taken."

The Doctor looked quizzical at her.

"I don't understand"

The stranger smiled. "I'm the Doctor…"

**Chapter 1**

Clara looked at both the Doctor and this stranger who had declared herself the Doctor. Her face was perplexed as both her fellow travellers smiled uneasily at one another and she was still trying to stand upright after the mid-flight turbulence she had just been a part of.

"So, let me get this straight." Clara addressed the female Doctor, "You're telling us you're the Doctor?"

The female Doctor smiled at Clara, her eyes giving no hints of a subtle joke that Clara thought was being played on her.

"Well, yes, yes I am."

"But you can't be. There's only one Doctor, right?"

Both women turned to face the male Doctor, his own face failing to hide his surprise now at this stranger in his TARDIS and what Clara had just said.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" asked the female Doctor.

The Doctor tried to regain his composure.

"Well, yes, yes, of course. This is Clara." The male Doctor directed his hand towards Clara, who fixed her dress and stood upright, extending her hand to shake it.

"How do you do, FemDoc?"

The female Doctor was taken aback by the nickname but smiled and shook Clara's hand anyway.

"FemDoc? That's… different. But at least there will be no confusion now, will there?"

FemDoc was now giving a cheeky grin to her male counterpart who was trying to hold back a smile at her expense. He had been at the end of one of Clara's jokes so he was glad someone else was now getting a bit of her tongue-in-cheek humour, even if it was him in a female body. FemDoc began to look Clara up and down.

"I do love your style. Women have style, right? I'm not very good at it as you can see."

FemDoc stood back a little, removed the sonic screwdriver from her hair and gave a twirl to show off her dress which was almost too short for her. Her hair lost some of its pins and thus it got in her face. She tried to remove it with little success and Clara came over to help.

"You might need a little practice on dressing yourself as a woman, I would say."

"It seems so."

FemDoc smiled at Clara as she brushed the hair from her face. Clara began to fix up her hair to a similar position before taking her arm and turning to face the Doctor.

"If it's alright with you Doctor, I might take her down to our clothes chest to find her something better to wear."

The Doctor did not give away much emotion on his face. He was still trying to comprehend this woman in his TARDIS. Who was she? Was she really an alternate version of him possibly? How did she get in? He turned around to the control panel as he answered.

"Well, it seems likely she'll be staying aboard for a little while. Well, until we find out how you got in here. Until then, make yourself at home, I guess."

Clara looked frustrated at the Doctor. He wasn't being hospitable at all. She began to walk to the lower deck staircase.

"Well then, call us if you need us."

"Don't worry, I will."

The Doctor did not turn to see them walk away. Instead he activated a scan of the entire TARDIS for life forms on board. His surprise at the result made him finally turn around to watch both his female travel companions disappear from sight below him.

"There's more to you than meets the eye, it seems," the Doctor whispered to himself.

**Chapter 2**

"What do you think?"

The female Doctor came out from behind the dressing screen, wearing a denim jacket, a white top which almost seemed too big for her and leggings. She seemed uncomfortable in her new outfit and folded her arms after giving a twirl to the on-looking Clara.

"Well I think it really suits you. For some reason, I don't think you like it though."

Clara could see in how uncomfortable the FemDoc was and smiled to reassure her.

"Let's try the second outfit I picked out. Maybe I was thinking too 'rock chick'"

"What's a rock chick? I've never heard of rock chickens before. What planet do they originate from?"

Clara couldn't help but giggle at what FemDoc had said. She was just like the Doctor, an innoncence or naivety which hid their incredible intellect and problem solving abilities. She liked her, someone who she was not just attracted to but more of a friend. She could feel herself blushing at the thought of 'fancying' the Doctor, her Doctor, and looked up to see FemDoc smiling over from behind the screen.

"You're thinking about him, aren't you?" FemDoc shouted over.

Clara tried to regain her composure. "And who might that be?"

She stood up, making herself look confident by standing tall, hands behind her back and balancing on her heels.

"Your Doctor. The one upstairs. I saw the way you looked at him. I may be the Doctor but I can see things he wouldn't normally see. Woman's intuition."

She winked as she put on her next outfit. Clara smiled at her answer. Maybe, if she could stay a bit longer, they could talk. She would know how the Doctor thought and she could give her advice, help in coping with her feelings for this incredible man. Was he a man? An alien, of course but you're allowed to think how human-like he is. She was overthinking again.

"You look cute when you are overthinking."

Clara looked up to see FemDoc putting on the final part of her outfit. She had seen her thinking.

"Yeah, not exactly an attractive look, is it?"

FemDoc bent down to get her shoes on.

"I'm sure he would think it was. He goes after all sorts of women."

"So you know about River Song?"

FemDoc popped up from behind the dresser.

"Dear, I know all about his escapades. I was him, I just took a slight detour and now I'm having trouble working a corset."

Clara giggled again. FemDoc's feminine company was certainly a welcome change in the TARDIS.

"Here, let me help you."

"Don't worry, I'm finished. Are you ready for the grand reveal?"

"Surprise me FemDoc!"

The female Doctor came from the behind the dressing screen, her new look a sudden change to what she had previously worn. Her hair had not changed from her first meeting with Clara but her red dress, cardigan and flats gave her a sweet look which looked almost similar to Clara.

"It's like looking in a mirror," remarked Clara, which seemed to strike a chord with FemDoc who looked up immediately, "In a good way of course!"

Clara winked at her and she smiled back before giving a twirl.

"I finally feel less restricted. Trousers were so last regeneration!"

Clara giggled again but it was short lived as the TARDIS shook, its light system going out before bringing on a light red glow which Clara had never seen before.

"What happened?" Clara asked, regaining her posse after what had happened.

FemDoc brushed herself down before answering.

"I think we've stopped. We might have a big problem on our hands if the TARDIS is on secondary power."

Suddenly the Doctor appeared from the level above, his head looking down at his two female travelling companions.

"Sorry ladies but we seem to have an issue. The TARDIS has stopped and we're in big trouble. I think we may be stuck for a while so if you could bring Scrabble from the clothes chest, that would be great! Afterwards we can reset the TARDIS if you girls like."

The Doctor popped back up and the two females looked at one another.

"Want to be in my team?" asked the FemDoc, "I'm great with words."

"Somehow, I think getting the TARDIS back up and running sounds more appealing to me," said Clara as she began to make her way up to the control room.

"You're no fun!" shouted FemDoc, running up behind her.

**Chapter 3**

The two women reached the control room to see the Doctor leaning over the console. He looked dejected at the sudden stop in the TARDIS' movement.

"Do we know what happened?" asked FemDoc.

"The last thing I picked up on the TARDIS' scanners was an upcoming ion storm. I tried to change the direction of our trajectory but I couldn't. It's almost as if the TARDIS wanted us to enter the storm."

The Doctor looked puzzled as he tried to work out in his own head why the TARDIS had disobeyed him. FemDoc shifted uneasily.

"Whatever the case may be, we're stuck. We only have one option and that is to use a manual reset of the TARDIS, located in the heart of the engineering core of the TARDIS. It's risky. It'll reset us to a time before this incident occurred with no memory of what happened. In a way, you could disappear."

He was addressing his female counterpart who he believed knew of the consequences of what was happening as looked down at the ground before meeting his stare as she realised he was referring to her. She smiled in a reluctant fashion, seemingly aware of her inevitable fate.

"It's understandable. Maybe, I'm not supposed to be here. Maybe it might reset us in our own universes."

The Doctor began to straighten up and walk around the control panel, addressing the female Doctor as he did so.

"Something is bothering me though and I need to get a secondary opinion on the matter. If you are of a different universe, time and space itself would begin to rip apart by the very nature of us being in the same room. The TARDIS should be dead, or at least dying, from something as drastic as that. Which leaves the question, who are you?"

FemDoc looked surprised. Clara too was just as surprised but trusted the Doctor in his questioning. She may have liked another female companion on the ship but she had just appeared, as if out of thin air. She stood back from her fellow woman and listened to her answer.

"I am you."

"As you are me and we are all together but this isn't some drug-induced Beatle track. This is a very dangerous situation you've put us in 'FemDoc.' You could be exposing us to a very real danger, not just me and Clara but yourself. Now I will ask you again, who are you?"

The Doctor was facing the female Doctor, his anger so very apparent on his face. Yet a sense of curiosity also threatened to break the aggression he was meaning to convey towards this possible imposter. Why hadn't the TARDIS broken down until it hit the ion storm? Did she possess some sort of control over the TARDIS to make it fly into the storm? She continued to look uneasy and would not make direct eye contact, like a scared child being told off by an elder.

The female Doctor began to take a deep breath, looking up to the ceiling as she done so, almost preparing herself for an answer. She began to shake, jumping up and down, as if nerves were beginning to affect her. Taking one last deep breath, she took the sonic screwdriver from her hair and commented.

"The problem with being a woman is the lack of pockets. I mean, come on, I think I might need to carry a bag."

She turned to Clara as if to expect a favourable reaction to her joke but Clara was staring back at her with a mixture of nerves and solidarity, showing that she was behind the Doctor and his questions. FemDoc knew she was outnumbered and began to tap her screwdriver against her palm of her other hand.

"Well, it looks like I need to tell the truth. The problem is only one of you will hear it. The other is unnecessary."

She turned to Clara and stepped forward. Clara began to brace herself.

"Goodbye Clara…"

She pointed her sonic screwdriver at Clara and activated it before the Doctor could reach her. Clara began to fade away from the control room, shouting for help as she disappeared from sight.

The Doctor angrily grabbed the wrist of the woman, squeezing it so that she would let go of the screwdriver. His face displayed his fury at what this imposter had done.

"Bring her back!"

She smiled at the Doctor, her evil intentions seemed to be brought out by her act.

"Oh no Doctor. I want to play a game with you. I want to make you feel fear."

She began to whisper into his ear.

"I want to make you see the cracks that have appeared over your mirror."

The Doctor took a step back, fear already gripping his face and body. The fear seemed to come from the possibility of having his own answer to the question he had asked her and the anger of what he had seen. His mind raced at the thought of losing Clara, someone he had promised to protect but had lost in the blink of an eye at the hands of a tool he himself used to protect her. He gulped, moving forward slightly and almost hesitantly asked her his question.

"Who are you?"

The woman grabbed the Doctor by the tie and pulled him in for a kiss. The Doctor tried to pull away but couldn't let go. When she finally released, the Doctor pulled out his own sonic screwdriver at her.

"I will ask you again, who are you?"

She smirked at his question before coming closer to him and caressing her finger across the buttons of his shirt. The Doctor lowered his sonic screwdriver and arched his back away from the intruder to his own personal space.

"Oh Doctor, don't you remember little old me?"

"My memory fails me every so often."

The woman laughed at the Doctor's answer before returning to the devious smile she almost seemed to wear so well. The Doctor had a feeling in the back of his mind that he knew who this woman was but he was unsure if he was correct. His own questions were beginning to answer themselves from the answer he knew was coming.

"Well, let me refresh your memory."

She walked backwards, almost seductively to entice the Doctor closer but he felt nothing but fear and anger boiling in him as she failed to answer him.

The woman raised her hands to her side in a triumphant stance.

"I am the Rani, I am the TARDIS incarnate in physical form and I'm here to rock your world!"

**Chapter 4**

The Doctor lowered his sonic screwdriver before looking to the ground in disbelief. Here, standing in front of him, was a Time Lord. Well, she said she was a Time Lord. A Time Lord who he had seen burn on the battlefield and could not save. The TARDIS scanner had picked up her life signal but it was faded. The question is not who is she but what is she? The Doctor looked up, his shock so evident on his face.

"This cannot be. You should be dead like all the other Time Lords yet here you are telling me you are the Rani, the TARDIS incarnate. Forgive me for sounding old but that's a new name for you."

The Rani smiled her devilish grin towards the Doctor.

"I've been trying out a few new things."

She moved towards the controls of the TARDIS, sliding her hand along the bottom of the panel and looking up to the time rotor.

"The Time War was a long and bloody affair. Defeat was inevitable and our race was about to become extinct. We decided to experiment to allow our bodies to survive whatever may come."

The Doctor still displayed surprise in his eyes but his confidence grew as the Rani explained herself. His job was made easier by her openness to how she had come to be here.

"Looks like I don't need to ask any more questions if you're going to tell me everything anyway."

The Rani began to walk towards the Doctor as he spoke and grabbed his tie again, trying to gauge some sort of sexual interaction from him but to no avail. She could sense that her forwardness was making no headway and simply turned, letting go of the tie over her shoulder.

"You haven't lost your sense of humour, have you Doctor? I thought it would have been rude of me not to explain my coming to be here and, I must say, it will have you at the edge of your seat."

"I'm listening."

The Doctor crossed his arms and displayed a look of assured confidence to hide his uneasiness of what he dared not hear. The Time War was something he had tried to forget but here was a living reminder of his darkest hour.

"Like I said, we began to experiment on our own kind, looking at new ways to extend our lives beyond our regenerations. I know you would call these sick experiments, willing to kill our own kind to create genetic mutations of our race but we needed to survive. I can see you judging me but it was necessary. One of these was the ability to allow our essence, our souls even, to leave our bodies, to travel across space and latch itself onto TARDIS technology, using the energies harnessed within the Eye of Harmony, so that we may one day come back as flesh but as a being of Time Lord blood and control over the technologies and workings of a TARDIS. I was the only one to survive the procedure. It meant that, if I died, I would still be alive in spirit, if you will."

The Doctor listened intently; he was finding it difficult to hold in his anger at his own race experimenting on their own kind, killing them in the process just to extend their lives.

"My death on the battlefield was not my last. You saw me die in physical form but my soul was able to travel, latch itself on to a TARDIS, allowing myself to survive. How fortunate that I end up on yours? I began to use the technology of the TARDIS to bring my body back to life but your TARDIS is like a loyal lapdog. It imprisoned me and kept me quiet for all your little adventures. However, it couldn't hold me forever. The ion storm we entered was the perfect chance to escape. I tricked the TARDIS and managed to gain a physical form, one you would not recognise, and appeared, as I did. Once the TARDIS was trapped in the ion storm, weakening with every moment, I have now been able to gain more control over the TARDIS. I will soon be able to take us anywhere your heart desires Doctor and together, we can save our race, rebuild it to its former glory. Bring back Gallifrey."

The Rani made her way over to the Doctor, taking his hands as she finished her speech. The Doctor tried to look away but the Rani placed her hand on his cheek and moved his head to meet her gaze.

"Doctor? Is that not what you want?"

The Doctor looked at her with tears in his eyes. He could not lie that he wanted to see his race reborn, to see a new Gallifrey in the skies, but it could not be. The Time War had ended his race and another race of Time Lords would bring its own problems to the universe. It was a conundrum that he did not want to face. Rassilon had tried to bring Gallifrey before and the universe itself nearly felt the full effects of such a disaster. How could he put it through another one to simply bring back those he loved? The Doctor walked away to the control panel, putting his arms down to lean against it.

"Where's Clara?"

The Rani skipped over to another side of the control panel.

"Oh yes, your other little lapdog. I tried to disintegrate her with my control over the TARDIS but the TARDIS itself stopped me. Shame, I just wanted it to be you and me and now we have two stowaways on our ship and I believe they may be trouble."

The Doctor looked up to the faint red glow from the time rotor.

"Clara," the Doctor whispered.

Clara began to stir. She must have fallen as she was lying on the floor. Well, it felt like a floor. She began opening her eyes to see a plain white room. As she raised herself up, the whole room was white except for a chair and a lamp, not too far from where she was lying and in the chair was a man. As she got up, she couldn't believe her eyes at who she was seeing.

"Tell me this is some sick joke," she said to the man who smiled back at her.

"Oh no, this isn't a sick joke. I'm the Doctor and I'm here to save your Doctor."

**Chapter 5**

Clara was shocked. She couldn't believe who she was seeing. It wasn't her Doctor but another Doctor, the previous incarnation, the one she first met. He sat on the chair, his leg on top of the other and his fingers crossed, right across his chest. He smiled before getting up and dusting himself down.

"Well, I should probably explain myself and say that I am not the Doctor but an image of the Doctor, used to help you in saving the Doctor that you know. I am a TARDIS AI, artificial intelligence, which will lead you to the manual reset and save the Doctor from the Rani."

Clara looked bemused.

"Alright, hold up. So you're an AI, projecting yourself as the Doctor to help me, right?"

"Correct."

"And you're going to help me get to the manual reset button to save the Doctor, right?"

"Correct."

"Okay, I think that explains most of the splurge of words you just fired at me but I'm still confused. The Rani?"

"Yes, the Rani. A Time Lord who was experimented upon with secret Time Lord Technology. Instead of regenerating, she was able to survive as a life essence, a soul as you humans might call it, and by latching on to a TARDIS, she could bring herself back to life by recreating a body by cross-networking herself to the mainframe of the TARDIS and the Eye of Harmony, making her a Time Lord-TARDIS hybrid, very dangerous. I, the TARDIS, managed to keep her imprisoned before she could do any harm but she managed to break free right before we hit the ion storm. Once we hit it, she was able to gain more control over the TARDIS and is essentially making me weaker, taking control over me and using her power to bring back her race."

Clara was confused by the sudden influx of information she received. She tried to comprehend it but found it difficult. She began to fall but fell into another chair.

"The Doctor would hate to see his travel companion to get hurt. That is why I saved you from the Rani trying to disintegrate you and saved you from falling with this chair. However, saving you from disintegration took a lot of my power and we only have a short time to save the Doctor."

Clara began to shake her head and process the information better. She should have been disintegrated and now she was here. She knew she would have a terrible headache in the morning.

"The Doctor should have worked on your people skills. Too many words right there."

"I had to explain everything quickly as time is running out. I will adjust my explanations accordingly due to this feedback."

Clara looked up at the AI as it stopped before beginning to talk again. Maybe she shouldn't have told the Doctor to pick this one.

"My power is waning and the Rani grows stronger by the minute."

"Wouldn't the Doctor be happy to be with his own kind though? He talks about them all the time."

"You don't understand."

Clara got up from the chair, holding her head as she did so.

"No, I don't. My head hurts and you're telling me to save the Doctor from something he probably dreams about."

"No. Bringing back the Time Lords would have a catastrophic effect on the universe."

"What sort of effect are we talking about?"

"The end of the universe."

"That is pretty bad. And this manual reset, it basically stops her, right?"

"It will reverse time to a previous point. From that point, only myself and the Doctor will have any memory of what had happened. With this information, I can forcefully remove the Rani from my systems and stop this from reoccurring."

Clara looked down. She wouldn't remember anything that had happened. She would forget her heroics as if they were a dream. She looked solemn before realising that she had to do this for the Doctor. He was in trouble. He needed her. She looked back at the AI with a cheeky grin.

"Right then, we have no time to lose. Let's save the Doctor!"

"Fantastic. Let's go!"

The AI grabbed Clara's hand and off they ran. Clara almost tripped at how fast the AI was running. However, she began to question where they were running to. The AI wasn't that stupid, was it?

"Where are we running to? There's no door to get out."

"Oh yes there is!"

The AI pointed to a door, very plain, paint peeling away at the front. The AI opened the door and led Clara to a metallic corridor, lights flashing red to signal some sort of danger Clara resumed while a loud alarm bell sounded. Clara continued to be dragged along by the AI and she remembered her previous trip through the TARDIS. Had the TARDIS tried to recreate that for her? She felt the rush of feelings she had felt then come back to her and she felt excited. It was like reliving a memory in your head but she was doing it for real.

As she thought of this, what the AI said to her started to become clear. The Rani wished to bring back Gallifrey but the Doctor had mentioned before that Gallifrey was trapped within a locked area of time and space. Bringing it back could prove disastrous, it could potentially rip time and space apart. The Time Lords were not just an incredible race but an unstoppable race, powers beyond anything Clara could imagine. The Time War had driven them mad. The Doctor stopped them but at the price of one of his lives. And if it had happened once before, could it happen again? Would they be able to stop it in time? She knew she could. The Doctor had saved her too many times before. Now, she was returning the favour.

**Chapter 6**

The Rani began to fiddle with the controls.

"Looks like your two lapdogs are trying to save you. Why do they think you need saving?"

The Doctor was now leaning against the railings of the control room. He had his arms folded and his head lowered. He looked up to the Rani, his thoughts of what she had said were evident of his face as he looked solemn.

"Rani, do you not understand what you are thinking? Gallifrey is gone. By bringing it back, by bringing our race back, you are willing to destroy the universe, all for the happiness of two people. Is that what you want?"

The Rani looked at the Doctor, looking confused at what he had said.

"Yes. I want our race to flourish and if that means destroying these pitiful life-forms which are trying to take our place in the stars then so be it. I will bring back Gallifrey and our people, whether you like it or not."

Anger engulfed her face and the Doctor began to walk towards her.

"Do not come any closer, Doctor. It looks like I will have to change your mind by getting rid of the two things you hold most dear."

The Doctor stopped as the Rani had told him and he looked back to the Time Rotor.

"Run Clara," he whispered.

Clara was indeed running, holding the hand of the AI who ran surprisingly faster than the man he was attempting to mimic in order to help Clara.

"Eleven didn't run quite as fast as you!" she shouted as she nearly stumbled over her feet again. She began to feel her breathing get heavier and she knew they had to stop but it seemed was not an option to the AI. Doors were closing behind them, trying to trap them and the sense of urgency was evident as another door closed in front of them, making them change direction.

"It seems Eleven had more time on his hands than he let on to you Miss Oswald!" the AI shouted back. Clara liked the sense of humour the AI was displaying. It was almost as if it was gauging how to interact with her and she appreciated that. The safety she felt when she first entered the TARDIS was still found in holding the AI's hand. What she found most strange was that all the feelings she once felt, running with the previous incarnation of her Doctor were all rushing back to her. And she called him her Doctor. Did she actually own a man like him? She sighed.

"Are you getting tired yet, Miss Oswald?" asked the AI, sensing something was wrong.

Clara realised she must have been overthinking again as she tripped over herself and landed on the floor. The AI helped her up to her feet.

"Silly me, I guess."

Clara brushed herself down and rubbed her knees.

"It's ok; we were travelling very quickly so a rest might be needed. We are not far now. I can sense it."

Clara looked up and down the corridor. It seemed almost eerily quiet. If the Rani had control of the TARDIS, surely she would have better defences to stop them from getting anywhere near the manual reset. At that point, she heard something coming from the end of the corridor, its voice getting progressively louder as it moved closer towards them. Eventually, she was able to make out what it was and what it was saying.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

**Chapter 7**

The AI ran in front of Clara, putting his arm out to protect her. He brought out a sonic screwdriver from his pocket and pointed it towards the Dalek coming towards them.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

"You should have kept your thoughts to yourself there, Miss Oswald."

Clara looked at the AI. Could the TARDIS read her mind? Is that why it asked her if she wanted to stop? Did it know she was overthinking and knew she was going to trip up? She decided to stop before she said something she might regret.

"Don't worry, Miss Oswald. Your secrets are safe with me. The Doctor is a lucky man to have you on board and that is why I will protect you."

Clara smiled at the AI before readying herself behind him as the Dalek came closer towards them.

"Allon-sy!" shouted the AI as it activated the sonic screwdriver at the Dalek.

The Dalek almost disappeared, disintegrating right in front of their eyes.

"That was close. What did you do?" asked Clara.

"The Dalek wasn't real. It was imaginary; a creation of the Rani's to scare us."

Clara stepped back from the Doctor, breathing a sigh of relief before she backed into something. There wasn't a wall behind her but before she could turn around, an arm grappled round her, squeezing her tight. The arm was metallic, cold and would not let her go. It pointed its other arm at the AI who pointed its screwdriver at the creature.

"Cyberman," the AI said, his facial expression of anger was something Clara had seen many times before on the previous Doctor's face.

The Cyberman began to squeeze tighter at Clara. She was beginning to find it harder to breathe. Suddenly, the Cyberman talked.

"Do not struggle, dear. You'll just make it worse."

The Rani was talking into a microphone on the control panel. The screen she was watching showed the AI and Cyberman standing off. The Doctor had removed his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the Rani while she was doing the same.

"You're in quite a predictament. The Dalek was merely a mirage but the Cyberman is the real thing."

"Let her go, Rani."

The Doctor spoke through gritted teeth, his anger trying to threaten her but he was all too aware of what she could do. The Rani turned to face the Doctor.

"You dare to challenge someone who could disintegrate you in an instance. Doctor, I could go ahead with my plan without you but I want you to see the rise of our once great race. Don't make me do something I will regret."

The Doctor smiled before using his sonic screwdriver to short-circuit the control panel. The Rani was thrown back while he could see the Cyberman had let go of its grip of Clara. He got hold of the microphone.

"Run, Clara!"

The Doctor turned round to see the Rani pointing her sonic screwdriver at him. Suddenly, he could feel himself grow lighter. He looked down at his hands to see they were disappearing like sand in the wind. He looked up at the Rani again who had tears in her eyes but was trying to smile.

"I am sorry Doctor. You left me with no choice."

The Doctor disappeared from the control room.

Clara and the AI ran down the corridor, followed closely by the Cyberman which was also running.

"Can Cybermen run?" Clara asked the AI, her shortness of breath becoming more apparent with every syllable she spoke.

"No, but this isn't exactly a normal situation."

The AI was running just ahead of Clara and couldn't reach his hand to hold on to it. He kept turning to check on her and the Cyberman who followed closely behind.

Suddenly, a door appeared in front of them, very similar in appearance to the previous door that allowed them to enter the metallic corridor. The AI stopped and used his sonic screwdriver to open the door. He then turned to Clara and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm sorry Miss Oswald but you must go on alone from here, the Rani won't be able to touch you once you enter this room. I will hold back the Cyberman."

Clara looked at him, sad that she would see her protector go.

"No, I need you. How will I know what to do?"

The AI smiled and hugged her.

"You will know what to do. Now hurry!"

He pushed her away from him and towards the door. He put out his arm to protect her as the Cyberman began to stop in front of him. He held out his sonic screwdriver to fight the creature. He turned back to see Clara peeking out from the door. He smiled before being attacked by the Cyberman. He fell to the ground in pain as Clara closed the door.

Clara leaned back against the door, scared and frightened by what she had witnessed. She knew she had to do this for both the TARDIS and the Doctor. She had to be strong. She managed to straighten herself up and walked towards what was a big red button on a stand in the middle of the room. The room was white, much the same as the first room she woke up in. The room made her feel small and alone but she knew that this would be a massive task for her to do. She was erasing time. This must have been what it felt like for the Doctor.

She stepped forward to the button and placed her hands on top of it.

"Allon-sy!" shouted Clara as she pressed down on the button.

**Chapter 8**

The manual reset brought the two travellers back to the TARDIS before they had encountered the Rani.

The Doctor and Clara were each at their own control panel, stabilising the TARDIS as it travelled.

"Hold that lever down, Clara!"

Clara pulled the lever on her panel down and the TARDIS shuttered as it finally smoothed out, leaving the two travellers to hold on before finally standing up straight. Clara fixed her hair back and pulled down her dress before smiling at the Doctor.

"I think you'll make a decent TARDIS pilot out of me yet."

The Doctor smiled back, adding, "I think I already have. Practice makes perfect though and soon I'll be able to sit back and watch you take this little beauty out for a spin."

Clara blushed slightly as the Doctor came towards her. He looked down at her, smiled at her before putting his hand on her arm. Although he knew she would not recall what had happened before with the Rani, nearly losing her had hurt the Doctor and he could not bear losing her in such dramatic circumstances again, not without showing he cared about her. She looked at where his hand is before looking up at him to meet his gaze. She too smiled at him before blushing again. She knew he would notice this time and moved away. The Doctor looked on in disappointment to see her move away from him. He turned back to the control panel and began working at the TARDIS again.

Clara began rubbing her arm. She looked nervous from behind. She kept looking round to see if the Doctor noticed her but he had begun to work at the TARDIS again. She realised she looked silly and turned round, taking a big breath of air. She skipped over to the Doctor and leant against the control panel to look directly at him.

"Would you like some tea?"

The Doctor looked at her and smiled.

"I would love some. Milk and ten sugars please."

"Always the oddest request for tea I've ever received but coming right up!"

Clara smiled back and skipped down to the lower levels to get some. The Doctor watched her go down before looking back at a screen on his panel. On it read the following:

_She likes you. Treat her well._

The Doctor looked confused at what he saw and rubbed his eyes before looking again. The text had disappeared. The Doctor looked back to where Clara had went before looking at the time rotor, smiling at the blue glow which radiated from it.

"I think you're setting me up."

"Who's setting who up?"

Clara returned with a tray with two cups of tea. The Doctor turned round to see her, looking surprised before smiling at her sudden return.

"There's a mirror cracked down there. You might want to replace it," Clara said as she walked over to the console. She took both cups and handed one to the Doctor. He smiled in acknowledgement and both began drinking their tea. The Doctor looked at the time rotor one more time before finally turning to Clara, asking,

"Right, soufflé girl, where to next?"

The two travellers smiled at one another, their journey about to start afresh. But in the Doctor's head, the wild cackling of a familiar female voice threatened to disturb the moment he was having. No matter what the TARDIS could do, to leave the soul of the Time Lady in the midst of deep space or in the far reaches of a far-flung planet, the Rani might still return to exact her revenge…


End file.
